Effingham County Sheriff's Office reports

July 21Driving while license suspended or revokedWhile on patrol, a deputy spotted a pickup with a child sitting unrestrained in the middle seat. The couple in the truck appeared to be involved in a dispute. Once stopped, the driver said the woman in the car and her teenage brother had gotten into an altercation over hot dogs she bought her child to eat. The woman, who was extremely upset and could not keep still as she spoke, said she spent all her money buying the hot dogs. Her younger brother took her child’s hot dogs and fed them to the family dog. She appeared frantic and said she had not taken any medications.

When asked if there was anything inside the vehicle the deputy needed to be aware of, the woman had a “1,000-yard stare.” She said the driver may have put something inside her bag. She said they had experimented with some stuff and it caused her to feel strange. She added he had come to her house with some food to take the edge off the drug they had taken. A search revealed a pink plastic baggie that had a salt-like residue, believed to be methamphetamine. Both adult subjects were placed under arrest, and the woman asked to call her older brother to pick up her child. A check of his license showed it had been suspended, and he was arrested.

July 21DUIWeaving over the roadwayA deputy was responding to a harassment call when dispatch radioed the suspect had left in a different pickup. That truck then got into an accident. Deputies were unable to find the truck, and a deputy patrolled toward Arnsdorff Loop and noticed a road sign had been struck. The deputy saw the suspect and his pickup parked in the driveway of a home, and the truck had front end damage. The driver said he had a flat tire but he had a strong odor of alcohol and could not maintain his balance. He could not complete one field sobriety test and failed several others. A breathalyzer put his alcohol limit at twice the legal limit. A family member was called to retrieve the vehicle and the driver’s dogs.

July 21Theft by taking - misdemeanorTheft by deception - misdemeanorA complainant said two gold rings had been stolen. One ring had been stolen about three months before, and the other went missing within the last week. He had hosted a pool party a week before, and one of the guests may have taken the ring out of his jewelry box.

July 21Agency assistAfter deputies were advised to be on the lookout for a pickup with a ladder hanging out, whose driver had been involved in a possible domestic dispute, a deputy found the vehicle at a residence, with several people in the front yard. The driver said he and two friends were going to another friend’s house when his girlfriend called him to come over to another house. After he arrived, another woman came out of the house with a sword, striking him in the arm. He said he proceeded to defend himself, punching her in the face and knocking her unconscious. That woman’s boyfriend, also the suspect’s girlfriend’s brother, hit him in the head with a baseball bat, also striking another one of his friends.

July 21Affray (fighting)Deputies answered a medical call and found one complainant in the front yard, having trouble breathing because of an asthma attack. The two complainants, a husband and wife, had gotten in an argument and the wife got upset. After EMTs took her to the hospital for treatment of her asthma attack, she told deputies she was tired of her husband “beating on her.” She said her husband pulled her to the ground, kicked her in the ribs and punched her in the face and head. Deputies and medical staff could not see any bruising or swelling. She said her husband left the house with their two children and he was high on marijuana and drunk. When deputies found the husband, he said she hit him first and he attempted to defend himself. He was worried about their children seeing something bad so he went to his parents’ house. Deputies found no signs of drinking or drugs.

July 21Harassing phone callsDeputies were notified that a young woman had been receiving threats on Facebook from her stepbrother, who said he was going to beat her backside. She asked deputies about obtaining a temporary restraining order.

July 22Suspicious incidentA Clyo woman came to the sheriff’s office to say she had received two voicemails from someone claiming to be from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The man identified himself as Greg Sportitelli and he needed to talk to her about an Internet drug case. He told her she needed to go to U.S. District Court clerk’s office and pay a $5,000 fine or risk arrest for drug trafficking. He also attempted to obtain her address and said her phones had been bugged and not to tell anyone she had spoken with her.

July 22Criminal trespass warning issuedA Rincon bank asked to have a criminal trespass warning issued to someone who had been a customer for four years and had been accusing the bank of stealing money out of his account. The customer asked for a statement for the last 30 days and said money was missing from his account. He also made inappropriate comments to the tellers and said how much they would be loved in prison. He made the same comment to the branch manager. The manager asked the customer to step into his office to go over the bank statement, but he refused and said the bank would be hearing from his attorney. He closed his account and withdrew the remaining funds.

July 24FraudA Guyton woman told deputies her son was on Craigslist searching for jobs and entered into what she believes was a fraud. He answered an ad looking for USAA members who wanted to make quick cash. He replied to the ad and was sent a $1,900 check. After depositing the check, her son was supposed to get a money order for the same amount and send it back to the woman who issued the check. He had withdrawn $300 from the USAA account, and said he did so to ensure the check he received was legitimate. His mother said this was not the first time her son had been lured in by a scheme — he lost money about six months earlier because he sent to money via a PayPal account to an unknown person. They were advised to contact the USAA bank and make them aware of the issue, which they had done so already. The son also was advised to return the $300 to avoid any charges stemming from the alleged fraud.

July 24Identity theftA Guyton man said a collections agency had contacted him about an outstanding bill for a cable company. He got in touch with the cable provider and was told someone had opened an account in his name and had a bill of $185.78. He said the cable company needed a police report to investigate the incident and clear his name and credit.

July 24Domestic disputeA complainant told deputies his father had been drinking and began arguing with him. The father said he had half a bottle of liquor under his bed, and the son went to search for the bottle. He found it and took it from his father, and his father said he was going to get his “peacemaker.” The son said his father had made threats in the past and had talked of shooting someone. The father had a shotgun and a .45-caliber pistol but did not have ammunition for either. The father said he was trying to sleep when he heard loud noises coming from the living room. He got upset with his son because of everyone being loud. He said he did not make any threats with a gun and the “peacemaker” was a reference to his fists.

July 24Obstructing or hindering a law enforcement officer (two counts)Two probation officers asked for deputies’ help after a man ran away from them after he was handcuffed. Deputies found him in the woods, lying on his stomach with his hands still cuffed behind his back. He was told to get up and responded, “(Expletive) no, I ain’t gettin’ up.” Deputies pulled him to his feet, and he started kicking at one of the officers. He calmed down only after striking another deputy several times, and the initial deputy hurt his thumb trying to get the detainee under control. As he was walked out of the woods, he began to kick and thrash again. After getting secured to the ground, the suspect begged deputies not to hog tie him. He was told he would be allowed to walk to the car if he acted right, but several times on the way back to the car he called the deputies “a bunch of b---- a—n-----.”

July 25Burglary - first degreeInterference with government propertyDeputies were informed of a burglary at the Central Learning Center. Copper wires had been stolen from a mechanical room and other wires were damaged during an attempt to remove them from a junction box. An employee had been told there was no power in the classrooms and after he checked all the panel boxes, three were missing copper wires.